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Macy’s shuttering up to 40 stores, launching in-store Best Buy partnership

No specific locations have yet been identified in the annual store purge effort. The new electronics department pilot will kick off in mid-November.

September 10, 2015

In its continuing quest to drive a strong omnichannel strategy, Macy’s will be closing 35 to 40 underperforming stores, about 1 percent of its total Macy’s Inc. sales early next year.

It’s an annual purge and prune action, according to Chairman and CEO Terry J. Lundgren.

"Physical stores remain absolutely vital to our omnichannel strategy, which provides local touchpoints and tailored merchandise assortments for shoppers in nearly every major market," said Lundgren, in an announcement.

"As new shopping centers are opened, however, many customers change their shopping habits and often the sales volume of a store gets divided among the new and nearby, existing centers. Each year, we prune some stores that are our weakest performers so that we can concentrate our resources on the best locations and maintain a strong physical presence."

The retailer also announced it has signed a deal with electronics seller Best Buy to establish consumer shops within 10 Macy’s locations beginning by mid-November.

"We are delighted that consumer electronics will be returning to selected Macy’s stores through this test, which will allow us to learn how we can best serve our customers’ needs in this very sophisticated category," said Macy’s President Jeff Gennette in an announcement. "We will test and learn, along with Best Buy, through the holidays and into 2016 before deciding on next steps."

On the digital commerce front, Lundgren says Macy’s is one of the biggest and fastest-growing platforms in the country thanks to robust apps , mobile-enhanced websites and integration between brick-and-mortar locations and the online shopping environment.

"As a result, we are able to attract new customers and grow sales profitably,” Lundgren said.

The store closing announcement provided no insight on locations as the analysis of store performance is underway. Currently Macy’s operates 770 stores.From 2010 to 2015, 52 stores have closed and 12 new ones have opened.

The Best Buy partnership agreement states the licensed shops will be about 300 square feet in size, and staffed by Best Buy employees selling Samsung smartphones, tablets and smart watches, as well as audio devices and accessories from Samsung and other brands.